Gift checks should have the following verbiage :
“Gift made on behalf of DL NAME,
visiting Distinguished Lecturer to
CHAPTER on DATE\"
R. Christopher “Chris” Mathis has spent the past 40 years focusing on how buildings and building products perform – from energy efficiency and code compliance to long-term durability and sustainability. Today, his business focus is to work with strategically-aligned clients, leveraging that knowledge and understanding to improve buildings, building products and the codes and standards that govern them.
Chris received his undergraduate degrees in 1979 from the University of North Carolina at Asheville where he double majored in Physics and Theatre. He received a Master of Science in Architecture Studies from MIT in 1982 where his graduate work focused on energy use in buildings.
He began his career as a Scientist in the Insulation Technology Laboratory at the Owens-Corning Fiberglas Technical Center in Granville, OH. From there he became the Director of the Thermal Testing Laboratory for the National Association of Home Builders Research Center in Rockville, MD. While with the NAHB Research Center, Chris began investigating the need for quantifying and certifying the energy performance of windows. He became the Director of Marketing for Architectural Testing in York, PA, and began to pursue window energy performance in earnest.
Chris has been intimately involved with issues of window performance since 1986. Working with a diverse array of allied interests, Chris helped to create the National Fenestration Rating Council, the non-profit organization that developed the nation’s energy performance rating and labeling system for windows, doors and skylights. After its founding in 1989, Chris served for 4 years as its first Director.
Chris is an active participant in Standards and Code development nationally and internationally. He has served 4 terms on the International Code Council’s Energy Conservation Code Development Committee, working to refine and improve the IECC – the model energy code governing residential and commercial buildings in the US. He was also selected to be a member of ICC’s Sustainable Building Technology Committee helping to draft the first national model code for sustainable green buildings – the International Green Construction Code.
For almost 40 years Chris has been a member of ASHRAE. In ASHRAE he has worked for over 3 decades to help shape and refine Standard 90.1 – the building energy performance code that serves as the foundation for US energy codes governing commercial and high-rise residential buildings. He served for 4 years as the energy consultant to Standard 189.1 – ASHRAE’s model code for sustainable commercial buildings. His current ASHRAE activities include continuing to work on the model code for commercial buildings (ASHRAE 90.1) and development of a model efficiency leadership code for residential buildings (ASHRAE 90.2). Chris served as Chaired of ASHRAE’s Residential Buildings Committee (2017-18), served 4 years as the Energy Consultant to the Chapter Technology Transfer Committee, and became an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer in 2009. In this capacity Chris has provided technical input, guidance, and support to code development efforts around the world on topics ranging from how to establish local energy and green building policy to technical topics such as establishing minimum building envelope performance targets. In 2020 Chris was recognized as an ASHRAE Fellow.
Standards development has been a hallmark of Chris’s career. He has been a member and active participant in ASTM International since 1984. He is a member of committee E06 on Performance of Buildings and has worked on numerous task groups and subcommittees developing a range of standards and test methods addressing window performance, window installation, thermal testing of windows, glass strength, wall system performance, building envelope commissioning and whole building performance. He currently chairs E06.51.11 addressing window installation standards. He is also a member of committee C16 on Insulation and was a founding member of committee E60 on Sustainability where he served on its Executive Committee for 8 years. Chris was the first chair of ASTM’s Built Environment Advisory Committee, bringing together the diverse standards development groups at ASTM to collaborate more closely on critical issues of improved building performance. Chris recently served a three-year tenure on the ASTM Board of Directions (2018-2020).
Chris has published numerous technical papers and presented his work at a variety of national and international conferences. He has given hundreds of lectures on a variety of building performance topics including fenestration energy performance and efficiency, the role of fenestration in human comfort, commercial and residential building energy performance, energy code development and advocacy, climate change and building performance, and more. His hallmark lecture – Why Buildings Matter – has been given in over 20 countries and across the US. Chris is a frequent keynote speaker at various national and international conferences and events.
Chris has written numerous builder, architect and consumer-targeted articles and guides on building and product performance issues. He is the author of Insulating Guide - a book for home builders providing insulating best practices for many of the most common home building details. He is the co-author of Is Your Home Protected from Water Damage? A Homeowner’s Guide to Water Damage Prevention published by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. He is the co-author of Understanding Source Energy for Commercial Buildings, providing guidance on how to quantify and use source energy metrics in energy efficiency codes, standards and policy.
Chris has served two terms on the Board of Directors of BETEC – the Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council, a council of the National Institute of Building Sciences. He served as Chairman of the BETEC Board for 2014-15. He also served six years on the Board of Directors of the Energy and Environmental Building Association (EEBA).
As president of Mathis Consulting Company (MC2) since 1995, Chris and his team provide a variety of strategic services to both private and public sector interests related to buildings and building product performance. MC2 services include strategic energy policy development for state, national and international clients – including developing local, regional and national building and energy codes, sustainability policy and other market transformation topics. The MC2 team also provides strategic services to building industry leaders – from trend analysis to code assessment and regulatory positioning for current and new product offerings. The MC2 team conducts research and analyses for various private and public sector clients on topics ranging including building forensics, building energy use, peak demand and demand management analyses for utilities, meaningful sustainability metrics, as well as local, state and national regulatory planning.
Chris is also an on-going student of ~70 million years of sustainability and building science through his activities as a beekeeper. He lives and works near the farm he grew up on in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.
Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings
Advances in commercial building technologies have made possible dramatically greater levels of energy efficiency in commercial buildings than ever before. From new lighting, fenestration and glazing technologies, insulation innovations, air sealing, advanced HVAC systems and new diagnostic tools all create new opportunities for anyone working with 90.1 and the commercial building industry. This presentation will provide attendees with new information about commercial construction technologies for both new and existing buildings. It will also address opportunities and challenges in meeting new energy codes and the many “beyond code” programs such as LEED, Green Globes and other green building programs.
A Window on the Future:The Role of Fenestration in Building Performance
There are now thousands of new, different window and glazing technologies available to both residential and commercial building professionals. Many of these technologies have dramatic impacts on HVAC sizing, peak loads and thermal comfort. This presentation will provide attendees with valuable information concerning key performance indices necessary in making energy efficient fenestration product decisions. Implications on HVAC sizing, peak loads and human comfort will be addressed. Implications for existing and new buildings will be discussed.
ASHRAE Is In The House: Past, Present and Future Initiatives in Residential Building Performance
Residential buildings are responsible for over 22% of total US energy use. For countries worldwide, residential buildings often define the majority building energy use sector. While ASHRAE has a strong history of success in defining and transforming the commercial building sector – through Standards such as 90.1, 189.1 and 62.1 – our impact on the residential sector is not as well quantified.
This presentation focuses on “bringing ASHRAE home” – emphasizing the critically important role that all ASHRAE professionals must play in shaping and improving residential building performance worldwide. The presentation will quantify the impact residential construction has on US energy, power and water demand. We will discuss how these demands continue to rise as delivered comfort, IEQ and energy efficiency needs grow worldwide. We will review how ASHRAE has already impacted the residential building performance landscape and discuss recent initiatives to expand that influence. We will review the current ASHRAE strategic plan with respect to residential building topics and discuss how ASHRAE members can more significantly contribute to this important building performance arena.
Recommended audience:ASHRAE members, Residential Building Performance Stakeholders – especially in CZ 0 (architects, builders, utility planners, policy makers, etc.)For all residential building types (high rise residential, low-rise residential, apartments, etc.)Chapters And Advocacy: Best Practices for Leadership in Action
Bringing ASHRAE 90.1 to the World: The Addition of Climate Zone 0
Any meaningful discussion about the performance of buildings clearly shows the increasing connectedness of critical energy, power and water issues worldwide. Combined with analysis of recent environmental trends, these shared issues define an expanding international role for all ASHRAE standards.
Now, ASHRAE Standard 169-2013, Climatic Data for Building Design Standards, provides revised climate data for building performance assessment. Standard 169 now includes data and maps for the newly minted Climate Zone 0 – addressing extremely hot, dry and extremely hot, wet climate zones that exist worldwide.
Until recently, our flagship standard on building energy performance – ASHRAE 90.1 – was silent on its application into these extremely hot climates. This presentation explores the new Climate Zone 0 and the recent changes to Standard 90.1 to expand its building performance guidance to these international locations. We will compare and contrast critical building performance requirements for Climate Zone 0 with previous editions of the standard. We will especially focus on key building envelope and air leakage requirements that critically impact HVAC decisions and ultimate building energy performance. The session will conclude with a discussion of additional areas where ASHRAE should expand its standards to address targeted building performance topics in CZ 0 and worldwide.
Recommended audience:ASHRAE members, architects, CZ 0 policy makers
How Long Will It Last? Addressing the Challenge of Sustainability
This lecture explores some of the roadblocks, pitfalls and opportunities on the road to truly sustainable buildings. It invites the audience to question long held assumptions and habits in building design, engineering and construction, and challenges how we assess numerous building performance attributes. From energy efficiency to durability to life expectancy, we will explore some of the challenges necessary to establish meaningful product and building performance metrics. We will examine how these sustainability objectives fit in with ASHRAE’s minimum code standards (90.1 and 90.2), green building standards (189.1 and 189.2) and others.
Why Buildings Matter and the Role of ASHRAE 90.1
As our flagship standard for the minimum energy efficiency for buildings (except low-rise residential), ASHRAE 90.1 represents the Standard of Care for all certifying professionals serving the building industry. The latest version of that standard, 2016, contains dramatic changes that all certifying professionals should know. Attendees will gain a renewed perspective on the importance of buildings. Attendees will learn about the critical connections between building energy use and other social and environmental imperatives – such as available fuel supply, power trends, water use and availability, population growth, etc. Attendees will learn about critical energy, and environmental trends that will challenge the status quo building decision-making and help to prioritize delivered building performance. Attendees will learn about some of the most recent changes to 90.1, especially in those critical areas often overlooked by HVAC professionals – the building envelope provisions – as well as other changes. Attendees will be challenged to update their knowledge and understanding of the Standard and its role in delivering better buildings. The presenter has served over 15 years on the SSPC 90.1 development committee and remains an active participant in its development.
Building Science Lessons from the Honey Bee
This informative and entertaining presentation is based on an ASHRAE published paper addressing lessons we might learn from the 90 million years of evolution and building science embodied in the work and structures of the honey bee. From temperature management, thermal storage, indoor air quality, active and passive ventilation techniques and energy efficiency, the honey bee has developed a highly efficient construction system to support its biological needs. Attendees will be challenged to consider how we might employ these time-tested building science lessons into today’s architecture and engineering practice, as well as challenging our current definitions of “sustainability.”